New York Times unveils its first narrative non-fiction podcast

The New York Times is launching a new podcast that marks its audio team’s first foray into narrative non-fiction. The audio documentary, titled Caliphate, will seek answers and context about ISIS and its role in the Middle East. Rukmini Callimachi, an award-winning foreign correspondent and expert on the Islamic State, will host the program. Episodes will be released in the spring, and New York Times subscribers will receive early access to the series.

“Caliphate represents the modern New York Times,” said Sam Dolnick, an assistant managing editor for the publication. “It’s ambitious, rigorous, hard-nosed reporting combined with first-rate digital storytelling. We’re taking our audience to dangerous places they have never been, and we’re doing it with more transparency than we ever have before.”

“One year after launching The Daily, we are expanding to take on narratives so complex and important that they demand a different form of audio storytelling,” Executive Producer for Audio Lisa Tobin said. “Where better to start than the story of the Islamic State, and with Rukmini Callimachi as our guide and narrator. We are striving to be as ambitious in pushing the boundaries of podcasting as our colleagues are in their reporting.”